UK Homeowner

Sky Packages and deals for Christmas

2010-11-21T21:17:00.001Z

I don't know what we would do without Sky at Christmas, there's just so much to choose from with a Sky package compared to for example Freeview. The latest offers from Sky in the run up to Christmas are really fantastic.

Sky are offering Free Sky+ Box offer on Movies and Sports Packs until 21st December
This is an offer for new Sky customers only - so no use for our family but great for anyone who is getting Sky for the first time. According to Sky this package includes a Free Sky+ box when you join with Sky Sport or Sky Movie pack (single)
£30 standard set up
• £25 M&S voucher - online exclusive!
• This deal is also available when you purchase broadband and talk (with premium)
To see more details check out the package with Sky sports here the package with Sky Movies is here

Sky are also doing a Free Sky+ box (worth £49) with Broadband, TV and Calls Offer. This offer is available until December 9th 2010 and includes Free up to 20Mb Broadband Everyday Lite with Sky TV and Sky Talk for under £20 a month. Free evening and weekend UK landline calls, and a £25 M&S voucher when you join Sky TV online

Prince William should be next King

2010-11-21T19:33:00.001Z

It was lovely to hear that Prince William is finally to marry his sweetheart Kate Middleton. Their relationship does seem to be a real one - unlike some Royal marriages!

I read a few cynical comments that suggest that this marriage has been announced just now simply to keep our minds off the financial hard times that the country is going through. Sorry but I don't think that can be true - the timing of the marriage seems quite natural to me.

The other big discussion is about the type of wedding they should have - a full scale state wedding with all it's pomp and circumstance or a more downsized version to match the times?

For me there is no question about it - I think they should go for the full scale wedding - lets see a real full blown British royal wedding and show them all how it's done. The tourists will go wild for it - and lets be honest so will most of us. I just can't see why anyone would want a cheap wedding for a future king.

And talking of that it seems that most of us Brits want Prince William to be the next King and not his father Charles. For some people the whole Charles Diana Camilla thing didn't do Charles any favours and they would like to see his son get the throne rather than him. I agree with this. What do you think?

Sir Allan Sugar insults Kirstie Allsop

2010-11-12T19:07:00.000Z

Sir Allan Sugar can be a very blunt man and people who go on his show the Apprentice I guess know more or less what they are in for. Generally though he just makes comments about peoples business skills. In his latest how though he was really rude to TV presenter Kirsty Allsop and told her that she needed to go on a diet.

Now maybe Sir Allan Sugar doesn't know much about women but the one thing you don't do is tel them so bluntly that they need to go on a diet - and certainly not on a TV show that will be watched by millions of people. Sir Allan isn't much to write home about himself in the looks department - in fact he's got a face that looks like a face that looks like its made of badly crumpled paper - but clearly it has never stopped him getting ahead in business.

Allsop is a beautiful woman and doesn't need to take that sort of talk from Sir Allan Sugar - she should have told him that if she needs a diet then he badly needs a face lift !

Gordon ramsay in the soup

2010-11-11T19:04:00.000Z

I watch a lot of television cooking programmes hosted by different chefs - it's one of my favourite types of TV programme. Gordon Ramsay though has never been my favourite TV chef. he's just to course and foul mouthed for my liking. If Gordon Ramsay is like that at home then I really don't know how his wife puts up with him.

Gordon Ramsay hit the papers this week when he published an open letter to his mother-in-law. Now I know some men seem to find their mothers-in -law a bit daunting but I bet few have had to resort to communicating with them using an open letter printed in a newspaper. Why Gordon Ramsay chose this approach to trying to deal with a family issue is beyond me - it's really very strange.

The issue seems to be that his father-in-law was the CEO of Ramsay's company and according to Ramsay he had been making a mess of it ( I'm sure Ramsay would describe it as a F*ing mess). So he fired him. This appears to have resulted in threats from the in-laws about breaking of contact. Ramsay's letter was hardly what conciliatory and he has now followed it up by sacking more members of his wife's family.

I feel sorry for Mrs Ramsay in all this - she seems as if she must be stuck in the middle. I wonder ho much of this she'll stand for before she starts laying down some rules both to her family and her husband. No more open letters is one rule you should go for girl.

iphone SIM only plan

2010-02-15T21:14:00.000Z

I came across a good deal from Vodafone today for anyone who already has an iPhone but isnt happy with their current tariff. It's a Sim only deal that includes 600 minutes of calls, unlimited texts a 1 GB data allowance and a flexible 30 day agreement all for only £25 per month.

1 GB of data is a generous allowance and woudl allow up to around 10,000 emails/web pages or about ,000 minutes of streaming video. Apparently the deal also includes a 1GB monthly allowance to BT Premium Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots. This seems like avery good deal particularly as the contract is a short term one were you are only committed to a 30 day sin up period. Vodafone has great coverage right across the UK so this is a deal that lots of people should be able to benefit form. Details of the Vodafone SIM only deal are here.

Shopping done it's Christmas Eve Broadband

2009-12-24T00:15:00.008Z

Well I have finished the Christmas Shopping and I'm all set for Christmas eve.

We had a nice homemade ream of chicken soup when we came in wth crusty bread. It was really warming after trudging through the cold snow streets. We have a large turkey and a brand new roasting try for the occassion. The wines in - it was going for 3 bottles for £10.

The tree is looking a treat with the lights and the presents.

This year my own best present will be if everything goes well and everyone enjoys the meal. I've tried to come up with a nice menu that everyone will love.

I'm now getting onto the internet by mobile broadband from our laptop for the past year or so and it's great. It will mean we can take a laptop anywhere we want and be reasonably sure of having access to our email and blogs or to use Google for searching for stuff and so on.

I know people who have mobile broadband who found that unfortunately there are still lots of places where the Mobile Boradband signal isn't as string as it might be. So hubby decided that when we ordered the mobile usb dongle we should also get a long range signal booster for Broadband dongles with a CRC9 USB Modem connector What a difference it's made, I know others haven't had the best signal round here bt i'm now getting a great signal.

Talking about signals I wonder if I put on my sexy underwear tonight if I'll get lucky with hubby? Silly question!!

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Quiet Night In

2009-12-05T02:15:00.002Z

Well were having a quiet night in and up to - not much. I am enjoying it though. It's nice to chill and just enjoy a do nothing in particular night. We watched a film earlier and James Brown is just on. He is a great singer for his age - he must be - what? 70 maybe? His voice is still really good. Checking some blogs and sites just now I read that Amanda Knox has been found guilty of murder by an Italian court - can't say that I am surprised either.

The other thing that caught my eye was the stuff about the climate change emails and if it's going to cause problems when they meet at Copenhagen. I hope it doesn't because I would quite like my grandkids not to have to deal with our mess.

My friend brought her little baby girl round earlier for a visit. Shes a cute little baby and still only three weeks old. I like having a baby in the house now and then.

Christmas is nearly here

2009-11-30T16:59:00.003Z

It's the same for me every year. Around September I start thinking that I must make an earlier start on getting ready for Christmas than I did last year. You know, start buying presents much earlier so that I am not rushed, start planning our Christmas and Boxing day meals much earlier so that I am organised in plenty of time. Then BANG! I look at the calendar again and November has already gone and we are into December and I have still barely started.

Of course I am not half as bad as Hubby is. It's a man woman thing I guess. I think I'm rushed if I haven't started by about now but he leaves it and leaves it then about two or three days before Christmas he goes on a mad rush and buys all his presents at once. It's not a fair world though because he of course doesn't have to think about how everyone is going to be fed over the Christmas period - I do. He doesn't have to think about all the small presents that we need to get for nieces and nephews etc - oh no that's left to me.

I tell you he better get me a wonderful present this year and a great big bunch of flowers and be very nice to me!

Passing on some online discount info

2009-11-03T11:44:00.004Z

One of my pleasures in life is getting a bargain and the internet is a wonderful thing for picking up things cheaper than you can buy them on the highstreet. many companies offer discounts for online purchases and as we approach Christmas I like to keeep an eye out for online bargains. Someone sent me these discounts recently so Im posting them up here in case they are of use to anyone else.

CD Wow do - well er CDs and things ( surprise surprise) and Extreme Pie do stuff for younger people who are into Extreme sports style clothing and related stuff.
Anyway here are the discounts. You just click the link and the website will open in a new window. if theres a discount it will be revealed on the link you clicked.

Ill be posting more of these online Discounts and Discount codes as soon as I can.

Click to see Discount Code
Sign up to CD WOW! and receive a £1 voucher, valid on purchases across the site.
Offer Starts : 2009-06-14
Offer Ends : 2014-12-31

Click to see Discount Code
Sign up to CD WOW! and receive a £1 voucher valid for purchases across the site.
Offer Starts : 2009-06-14
Offer Ends : 2014-12-31

Click to see Discount Code
Sign up to CD WOW! and receive a £1 voucher, valid on purchases across the site.
Offer Starts : 2009-06-14
Offer Ends : 2014-12-14

Click to see Discount Code
£10 Off when you spend £80 or More with Extreme Pie
Offer Starts : 2009-08-04
Offer Ends : 2009-12-31

I do love my blog really

2009-10-30T12:32:00.000Z

Has it really been that long since I updated my blog? Things have been so busy in recent months that I hadn't realised that the last time I posted here was in February. Oh my poor poor blog! How neglected it must be feeling. I am surprised it's still talking to me because if I was in it's shoes I certainly wouldn't speak to me again for a long long time. I would expect me to make a long groveling apology and then be very very nice to me by making regular posts and even spellchecking them before I post them.

Luckily my blog is not the sulky kind and as soon as I opened it up it just went "oh hello, where have you been then? " It never uttered a word of recrimination for my lack of blogging. It just seemed please to see me.
So I am going to be nicer to my blog. I'm going to make sure that even if there are lots of other things happening for me that I drop by at least once a week and leave a little post for it. Because I do love my blog really you know - even if I dont show it sometimes.

Gadgets for home - wine

2009-02-22T15:52:00.007Z

One of the great joys of web shopping is that I come across things for the house or the garden that often aren't seen in the high street shops. I really love gadgets for the kitchen and I am always on the look out for kitchen and home shopping websites that have stylish and innovative products.

There is a UK site I recently came across called www.objekts.co.uk that sells "Trendy, Funky Cool" products that has a great range of stylish Kitchen products, as well as decor products and outdoor barbecue products.

I love sites that have a mix of quality branded products with down to earth classic products and this has a great range at competitive prices. Check out the Alessi and Eva Solo Coffee and Tea products ranges for example.

My partner and I are wine lovers and I love wine accessories. We are not wine snobs you understand but we both enjoy a glass ( or two!) of wine regularly. One of the products I found on this site is, I think, exclusive to them because I certainly haven't seen it anywhere else.

It's called a Spinwine Wine aerator / purifier It's like a wine pourer - but with a twist! Red Wine is always best if it is served not only at around room temperature but also if it has been allowed to "taken some air" and breathe. Doing this before you drink it helps to make the wine more palatable and soften it. The oxygen in the air slightly oxidises the wine and helps to improve the taste. What is interesting about this gadget is that it does this as you pour the wine!

Oh well, enough for now, we have friends coming round tonight so I better get on with things.

Blogging Medical Complaints

2009-01-30T05:27:00.002Z

I just read a funny list of medical conditions that Bloggers suffer from over on one of the blogs I read regularly. Like some of the others who left comments there I think I have had one or two of those medical illnesses that are associated with blogging. I guess the one I suffer from most is Blogstipation - I have great ideas for posts but never seem to be able to get them out. I wonder of there is a blog laxitive you can take to get the posts moving!

RBS Bank Shares what if they go lower?

2009-01-19T18:28:00.002Z

Royal Bank of Scotland shares today closed at 11.60. that's pence . not pounds. This got me thinking, if they go any lower then what happens? Clearly there is almost no shareholder value left in this bank. It's become essentially a penny share and in effect that flags that this is a worthless company.

Are we on the verge of seeing this bank effectively nationalised? The only other option is to continue to pump millions into a company that the market clearly sees as valueless. It can't simply be allowed to collapse completely because there are people who still have accounts with RBS, there are decent mortgage payers, people with savings etc etc who cant be allowed to get swept away as this institution collapses.

Letting it collapse would also run the risk that it would trigger a series of runs on other banks and we would be back were we were late last year. It seems that RBS may yet join Northern Rock as a taxpayer owned company.

Watching DVD's with the kids

2009-01-18T10:21:00.000Z

We had a nice night watching DVD's last night. I finally saw Mama Mia and what a great film it was! It's a bit of a film for the girls I guess so I don't suppose my other half will ever want to get round to watching it unless I plonk him down and force him! He's more into typical men's films like war films and stuff. Fortunately we both like sci fi so at least we have something we both like watching.

So I watched Mama Mia and he made himself scarce while it was on but then he came back through when it was finished and we watched Cloverfield. It's been out for a while now but neither of us had seen it yet. I thought it was really good and quite scary. There weren't many glimpses of the beasts but what there was was well done. Like a lot of films it has pinched the idea from the Blair Witch project of having one of the particpants filming the action which makes it seem all the more real.

I do like watching a good film together, it's a cosy thing if you know what I mean - even when we are watching a scary sci fi.

Prince Charles and Prince Harry Sooty and Paki

2009-01-13T17:13:00.003Z

I can't really make up my mind if Prince Charles and Prince Harry are racist using the terms Sooty and Paki. A bit of me thinks that it's all a bit of a fuss about nothing. But then I suppose it depends on how the people from the Pakistani and Asian community feel about it that is most important.
I read one blog post that makes the point of asking how would Prince Charles or Prince Harry feel if derogatory racist terms were used for them as supposedly "friendly" terms of endearment. Would Prince Charles be happy to be called the white equivalent of Sooty - if his Asian friends referred to Prince Charles as a White Honkey? This is a good point. It's not so much how the term is meant it's more important how the term is perceived by the person being called the name.

Too Fat for Adoption

2009-01-12T22:12:00.003Z

There is a news report on the BBC today about Leeds City Council refusing to allow a couple to be adopters because one of them is too fat. Apparently Damien and Charlotte Hall were told in a letter by the council that Mr Hall is too obese to be considered as an adopter and that he will only be considered when he loses weight.

It seems Mr Hall will have to bring his body mass index down below 40 before they will consider him. No doubt some of the press will have the usual field day with this and claim that the Council is interfering etc etc but I have to say that I think this is a very sensible decision. Far too many people seem to think that Adoption is there mainly for the benefit of adoptive parents. Well it isn't. Adoption is there mainly to benefit the children who are adopted and good for the council who put the needs of the child first. If this couple cant reasonably control their own weight what chance has any child who is given to them for adoption. Would they bring the child up with their own poor eating habits? Would the child be likely to end up being obese? Wouldn't Mr Hall be more likely to die young if he is obese?

There is terrible political correctness around about obesity sometimes I think. We tend not to call people obese unless we offend them. we don't like to call people fat we refer to them as large, or overweight or having a weight problem. Well I am sorry but obese is obese and fat is fat and we know the health problems that are linked to this. Who in their right mind would want to place a child for adoption with obese parents given the likelihood that this would result in the child suffering. This is a very sensible decision in my view.

What to do with savings as interest rates fall

2009-01-04T18:57:00.001Z

It's bad enough that people who were responsible about their finances and who did not get themselves into unrealistic debt are being hit by the downturn.

Those with savings though are being hit really hard by the fall in the interest rates being paid on savings by the banks and building societies.
A report in the Telgraph reveals that the Buidling societies have already cut the rates on their savings accounts by more than the Bank of England has over the past year.
The Bank of England is due to announce it's latest move on interest rates on Thursday and there is a lot of speculation that rates willl be cut further to 1.5%. Some have speculated that we couuld reach teh pioint that we would see negative rates on savings accounts. Thsi would mean that savings would earn no interest at all and that we would in fact pay the banks and building societies to hold our money. Although this seems unlikely it is not impossible.

For anyone who has savings and a mortgage at the moment the only sensible thing to do seems to be to use the savings to pay off some of the capital owed on the mortage.
When rates and prices start rising again as they surely will then this will help provide some insulation against the rises.

2009 hopes and resolutions

2009-01-03T01:00:00.001Z

I thought I would post my hopes and promises for 2009 and I can look back
on them later and see how they have worked out.

My hopes
1 I hope I have good health
2 I hope I am happy
3 I hope for these things for others.
My resolutions
1 I will be true to myself and others.
2 I will care for myself and those around me
3 I will look for and give happiness

Even if I don't manage this all the time then it is still something worth
doing.

January Sales

2008-12-29T14:51:00.001Z

After a lovely Christmas at home with friends and family we finally decided to hit the January sales on Saturday. We don't normally make a big thing of the January Sales but this year the shops have been offering some really fantastic price reductions so it was difficult not to get caught up in the sales frenzy.

We have found that there were some great deals both on the high street and on the internet so we have managed to pick up some gifts for birthdays and so on ahead of time and saved ourselves quite a bit of cash I think.
Although all the news is still concentratiing on doom and gloom I generally am not finding that ordinary people are quite so pessimistic. Maybe everyone is just keeping a smile on their face and trying not to worry. Anyway here is to a happy and prosperous New Year.

BHS online Sale up to 60% savings

2008-12-24T15:13:00.002Z

Ok here is a good one. The BHS Sale starting Christmas Eve they are offering up to 60% savings on many lines of women's children's and men's fashion and a range of home items. Knitwear , dresses and lighting are around 50% reduction and there is also around a 50% reduction on schoolwear which should be very welcome.
Apparently this year the shops are expecting massive online sales - well its just so much more convenient and it seems that today and tomorrow are likely to be massive for online sales. I'll post more as I check them out.

Dorothy Perkins massive 50% winter sale

2008-12-24T15:06:00.002Z

I have been checking who is having the biggest online sales after Christmas this year and the Dorothy Perkins Salelooks great. They are offering masive sales savings of up to 50% off for their winter sale. Their sale covers all departments as far as I can see including tops, knitwear, dresses, trousers, skirts , suits, coats and jackets and lingerie and nightwear. I am going to post again as I find more great online sales. It's certainly proving to be a great year to find online bargains!

Britney Spears Concert Tickets O2 London

2008-12-08T11:08:00.002Z

Britney Spears is playing the O2 Arena in London in June 2009 and I have been looking for concert tickets for this Britney Spears event. I just noticed that Play.com are now selling concert tickets and have tickets on sale for Britney Spears at the O2 for June 2009. I have used Play.com regularly before to buy DVD's and games as presents but hadn't noticed that they were also selling tickets. It looks as though the tickets they are selling are fan resale tickets so play.com might be a good place to go in the future for sold out event tickets. Anyway I managed to pick up a couple of tickets for Britney Spears so I know someone who is going to be very happy.

Great Party Dresses number one

2008-12-03T23:49:00.002Z

No Girl's wardrobe is right without a few knock out party dresses that really say wow! look at me. As we are entering the festive season and lots of Office and other parties I thought I would have a look around the web to see what sort of party dresses are on sale and if any have that wow! factor. I am going to make a few posts on this I think over the next few weeks.

The first party dress I found is a 1950's style halterneck party dress for £45 from CX London which really does say wow if you have the right figure. Check it out at the link. The model for the dress has a great figure but I think it's a dress that even those of us who are quite so shapely could carry off. Its a very feminine dress I think and even though it's a retro style dress I don't think that it looks at all old fashioned. Wearing this to the office party would be sure to turn a few heads.

Get me a Slanket for Christmas

2008-12-01T19:54:00.000Z

I want a slanket for Christmas and I will not take no for an answer! If you don't know what a Slanket is then it's really very simple, it's the latest must have for keeping cosy on the couch or around the house. It's a large blanket with sleeves, hence the name Slanket. The Slanket is a cosy blanket with sleeves and they are arriving in the UK in time for Christmas. And you can buy them through that link. ( Heavy hint to the person who will be buying me Christmas presents)

The weather has been really cold recently and it looks as though it is going to be a long cold winter. The way that the price of electricity and gas has shot up this year it means that staying cosy at home is even more important. I love being all wrapped up in a blanket on the couch but the problem with a blanket is that you either have your arms inside and cosy or if you have them outside say to read a book then they are no longer cosy. The Slanket solves this problem because it has long wide sleeves built in. It's not like I am asking for much because the Slanket is on sale through the above link for around £34 ( its £39 but there is a code to get £5 off.)

I know a certain person reads my posts here regularly so just you make sure that I get a Slanket for my Christmas this year or someone will be cooking their own Christmas dinner!

Electronic cigarettes for £44

2008-10-10T23:04:00.000+01:00

Trying to think of good Christmas presents is hard. I know a couple of smokers who have been unble to quit the habit and give up cigarettes but who want to be a bit healthier. Electric cigarettes might be a good present for them.

Now an electric cigarette isn't going to necessarily get them to stop but it does deliver the nicotine that they crave without all that nasty tar and many of the harmful chemicals in tobacco. So they could still get their nicotine fix and feel like they are smoking without doing so much damage to their own health (or others).

These electric cigarettes are much more like the real thing than older false cigarette devices and I gather that to a smoker it is a bit like smoking the real thing. Because they are not real cigarettes they also can be smoked in places where smoking as banned and no one is likely to complain.

Searching for the best uk shops I found electronic ciarettes on sale at £44 which considering the price of real cigarettes is actually not much. I bet some of my palls smoke that in a couple of weeks or less.

Russian Stock market woes

2008-10-06T16:54:00.000+01:00

Stock markets around the world took another hit today as the financial crisis rolls on and governments seek to bring some stability t the system. Most of us rightly are concerned about the performance of bans and the system in our own countries and in the US. Yet while the headlines have been largely about the US, UK and continental Europe the Russian stock market ( Moscow RTS or Russian Trading system) has been taking a real hammering.

So whats going on with the Russian stoock market given that they weren't seemingly much involved in sub-prime lending?

Trouble for the Moscow RTS really started with the Russian invasion of Georgia which proved to be a significant blow for investor confidence. Fears that Russia was moving back to a much more dictatorial style shook investor confidence and through June July and August of this year the Moscow RTS fell from highs approaching 2500 to under 2000.

Since August however the rot has really set in and on a number of occasions the Russians have had to close the market because of the speed and size of the falls. Today the market was closed twice because of major falls. The Moscow RTS fell almost 16% today to a low of around 903. Put it another way - the Russian market has lost over half its value since August. Today's one day fall is almost three times the hit taken by most other markets and must indicate substantial difficulties ahead for the Russian market if it continues to bleed value like this.

It doesn't take an economist to guess what might be behind these major falls and the withdrawal of capital from the Russian market.

If investors see Russia as ruled by an authoritarian government then there will be some fear that such a government could take extreme actions which might at some stage prevent investors liquidating their investments. In the face of this no doubt some investors are deciding to get out rather than risk this happening.

Secondly the Russian economy is at this time neither a major producer of consumer goods or one of the biggest producers of consumer goods. The strength of the Russian economy , such as it is, is in part built on exports of core commodities such as gas and oil. Another fear will be that as the west slips into recession demand for these will be suppressed at a time when western governments might just decide to inject demand into their economies by for example investing in alternative fuels etc.

In short the falls in the Russian market may simply be due to investors seeing uncertainty everywhere and concluding that the last place they want to tie up their cash is in an authoritarian country which might just decide to keep it and not give it back.

uk bank deposit guarantees

2008-10-05T22:38:00.001+01:00

The announcment today that the German government will guaranteei all bank deposits puts more pressure on the UK government to give the same guartantee to all UK depositors.

Ireland was the first country to make such an announcement followed later by Greece. Such is the fcragility of confidence in banking at the moment that it will now be difficult for other countries to resist giving these deposit guarantees..

Any country whch holds back from guaranteeing all deposiits risks seeing a flight of deposits. Just how bad the situation is for some banks and countries is shown by Iceland where the whole banking sector is having to be supported from collapse.

With the financial cris still running the decisions each of us make day to day will have a major influence on how things turn out. If we all rush to move deposits from bank to bank then the only result will. Be further instability. The short term decisions that each of us makes will have long term consequences which could far outweigh any short term benefits.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

I want a Wii Fit for Christmas

2008-09-06T14:11:00.000+01:00

The Wii Fit has been really popular since it was launched and I have been wanting one for some time. When they were launched they seemed to be very hard to get hold of and the retaiilers were often limiting them to one per customer. Doing a search round the internet it looks as though they must still be in short supply because a number of sites are either out of stock or limiting them still to one per customer.

My guess is that the Wii fit will still be one of the "must have" Christmas presents this year - it certanly will be for me. I had a go on a friends one and it was great fun. The Wii Fit links in this post go to a page showing current price comparisons for UK suppliers. The cheapest price showing as I post this is £119 which seems like very good value. Here's hoping Santa is good to me this Xmas!

Blackberry Bold 9000 mobile phone

2008-09-02T16:23:00.000+01:00

The Blackberry Bold 9000
Oh How I want one of these new Blackberry Bold 9000's!
Its a great looking phone with bluetooth, 3G etc and Vodafone Business have just announced that they have them. I want one. If like me you are a current Blackberry user then you will wonder what you ever did before you had one. Keeping in touch by email and text is so easy with these Blackberry phones.

Vodafone are offering the Blackberry Bold 9000 on a range of business packages with a cost ranging from FREE to £187. I need to talk to my boss I think. Maybe if I threaten to throw a hissy fit and stamp and shout he will consider getting my old blackberry exchanged for the new Blackberry Bold 9000.
I am going to speak to him first thing tommorrow.

Sending Flowers

2008-08-30T15:15:00.001+01:00

One of my friends has been having a difficult time with her health recently so I thought that I would send her some flowers to cheer her up. I was going to go to my local florist and do it through interflora but thought I would check up what was available online first. Actually there is a good choice of of online Florists and I ended up just buying flowers and sending them online. One of the shopping search websites that I use regularly had a good list of online florists.
Sending flowers online UK

Buying perfume and fragrances online

2008-08-09T14:59:00.000+01:00

Everyone has their own individual taste in perfume of course and you wouldn't at first think that buying perfume online was the best way to get your fragrances and perfumes - after all how are you going to smell them online!

But when I thought about this I realised that buying perfume online does make a lot of sense - because I know the perfumes I like - I don't need to smell them - so I can take advantage of the great online savings for perfumes and fragrances.

So of course I went hunting, or should I say searching for online fragrance shops.

I found two that I would particularly recommend.

Fragrance Direct sell branded, discounted perfumes and aftershaves. They have one of the largest online ranges of fragrances and cosmetics and their prices are up to 75% off the High Street prices. Many of the products that they sell are store counter testers and as these don't have expensive packaging this allows Fragrance Direct to offer substantial discounts. They have a full range of attractively packaged items also of course and their prices on these also beat high street prices!

Another online perfume and fragrance company is CheapSmells.com who are based in the Channel Islands. They also have a very full range of genuine fragrances and perfumes, skin care, hair care and body care products and they deliver around the world.

I have bought perfrume from both of these online retailers and can recommend them. obviously if you haven't smelled the perfume that you are interested in before then buying fragrances online probably isnt the right method for you , but if you know what you are after then this can be a great way of making savings. Every penny helps!

UK Electric and Gas Company Best Prices

2008-07-29T01:26:00.001+01:00

Scottish Power are still the best price for Electricy and Gas in the UK.

EDF have announced immediate and significant price rises for both Electricity and Gas. As always shopping around for the best Eectric and Gas prices makes a great deal of sense. The EDF increases are around 17% for electricity and 22% for gas or roughly an average price increase of £203 for DD and RCQ customers and £210 for Prepayment. Npower have now stopped their Fixed Price Products (“One”)

Scottish Power's Fixed Price Energy 2009 is the cheapest Fixed Price deal available. They are offering no price rises until 1st September 2009.

Also if you manage your Scottish Power energy account online you save an additional: £15.75 pa (inc VAT) for Dual Fuel customers or £10.50 pa (inc VAT) for Electricity Solus customers.

I say keep the 10p tax rate

2008-04-21T00:16:00.000+01:00

Although I am not someone who earns just a basic wage I do think that the Labour Government has got it wrong with the way that they changes they are making to the tax system are going to hit poorly paid individuals.

There is not doubt that many people have done very nicely thank you over the years and some have made sizable amounts of money. You would think that a Labour government would be inclined to lean a little harder in such people before bringing in measures which see some of the poorest people in the country being hit by the effect of tax changes. They really need to do something to take away the impact of these measures. I must say that Gordon Brown trying to sound "resolute" on this issue is just making me start to think that this man is very much out of touch not only with his own constituency but also with the views of New Labours own supporters.

I doubt he will take any notice of little own me but I think he will be foolish if he doesn't show that he has listened on this issue ... mark my words .....

Marx and Spencer Spring Fashion Collection

2008-03-17T15:23:00.000Z

Marx and Spencer in the UK have just launched their Spring collection modelled by among others Twiggy and Myleene. While Marx and Spencer are not perhaps the cutting edge of Fashion they do stock clothes that are often timelessly fashionable and of excellent quality. I havent checked them all yet - so many clothes so little time to browse them!
Marx and Spencer Spring Collection here.

Broadband TV and Phone with Sky package

2008-03-14T20:01:00.000Z

Well we finally decided to change our Broadband provider and have gone with Sky Digital who had a range of SEE, SPEAK and HEAR packages from £19 per month which included TV, Phone and PC broadband. The package including Broadband Tv and Phone was by far and away the best deal around and Sky have a very good reputation for reliability so we are very happy with the package. If anyone is interested you might want to check Sky before going with any other broadband or phone or TV provider. You will need to hunt very hard to find a better value package in my opinion.

Broadband with any other company could itself could cost a good proportion of the price that we are now paying for a Broadband, TV and phone package combined. The other providers don't come close to matching this package for value in my opinion. Theres info on the Sky packages here

Savings this weekend

2008-03-08T12:53:00.000Z

In case anyone is interested I have just found out that Dorothy Perkins have an online sale this weekend with everything up to 20% off. The sale ends 10th March so you will need to be quick to take advantage of these savings. Here is the link to the Dorthy Perkins site if you are interested.

This offer appears to be exclusive to online shoppers so you won't find these savings at the actual Dorothy perkins stores.

Scottish Power deal for new customers

2008-03-07T20:38:00.000Z

I posted earlier about Switching Power suppliers for Gas and Electricity so I thought I would dig a bit further and see what some of them are offering.
I have just had a look at ScottishPower and they are offering some good incentives at the moment to switch to them for Gas and Electricity;

1) They claim their Discounted Energy is 3% cheaper than their standard monthly Direct Debit prices for gas and electricity - they reckon an average saving of £25 per annum on Dual Fuel.

2) They guarantee prices will remain 3% below ScottishPower's standard monthly Direct Debit prices until July 2009.

3) Taking both the gas and electric from ScottishPower means only one Bill and includes a Gas & Electricity Offer discount of up to £16.80 per annum (inc. VAT).

4)Apparently you can also save an additional £15.75 per annum (inc VAT) if you become a Dual Fuel customer by managing your energy account online.

5) They are also guaranteeing no price rises until March 2011.

Click here for a free instant E.ON quote.

Switching power company savings

2008-03-07T10:52:00.000Z

There are good savings that we can all make by switching power supply company these days but still far too few of us actually do this. Not checking out potential Gas and Electricity savings and switching to a better company is like throwing money at the power companies - and believe me they don't need any more money!

The energy market is very competitive these days and all the power companies are vying for our business but they are also very happy if their existing customers don't bother to check their energy tariff's and compare their gas and electricity tariffs with other companies.

I check my tariffs regularly and have already switched energy supply companies twice saving myself a lot of money - and it's better in my pocket than theirs.

Two big companies that are worth checking are E.on which was formerly known as PowerGen, and Sottish Power. these are big players in the energy market and as a result are able to give good tariff rates to customers who switch power supply companies.

Savings of up to £111 are currently being quoted by E.On for their energy savings offer.
Click here for a free instant E.ON quote.

If you want to check potential savings with Scottish Power then Click Here to Save with ScottishPower

House Insurance best deals

2008-03-06T14:21:00.000Z

I don't know about you but our house is the single biggest purchase we have ever made or are likely to make and so protecting this investment through proper House Insurance is really vital to us. Insuring both the House and Household contents is really important because if you don't do this right then you may find yourself in difficulties when the time comes to make a house insurance claim.

There are lots of things that can go wrong of course, fire, flood, storm damage, subsidence, theft and break-ins, vandalism - the list is endless. You can of course adopt the "it won't happen to me" attitude, but you will regret this when something does go wrong. House Insurance and Contents insurance is not something to cut corners with. Ultimately it's our family life we have at stake.

Of course there are things we can all do both to reduce the risks of things happening and to minimise the costs of insurance. This is not the same as going for cheap insurance though.

The first thing is of course to make sure you have the right level of cover in the first place. This is a more important factor than the cost of the insurance. There is no point in having cheap insurance if it does not cover you properly.

Most buildings and contents policies cover the same "core" insurance risks. The terms and conditions vary though so you must start by making a decision about the risks you want to be protected against.

Policies differ for example in the level of alternative accommodation costs that they will pay. If you need to be out of your home because of fire or flood then alternative accommodation will be a must and can be costly. What standard of alternative accommodation cover will you require?

Using an insurance comparison site can be helpful - try
GoCompare.com

Why you should reduce your insurance risks.

Premiums are of course based on risk. So if you can reduce the risk of fire, flood damage and burglary in your home then this in turn can lead to you getting cheaper insurance.

There are some relatively easy things that you can do;

Fit approved locks to doors and windows. The level of security will depend on the type of doors and windows, so talk to insurers first. Do not forget that in some cases (such as if you live in an area with a high crime rate) insurers will require a prescribed level of security to be installed before they can consider offering cover.

Intruder alarms. Installing an approved alarm can typically reduce your premium by between 5-15%.

Occupancy. Reflecting the fact that most burglaries occur during the day some companies may quote cheaper premiums if someone is usually at home during the day.

Fit a smoke alarm. With the costs of domestic fires rising, some insurers may offer cheaper premiums on both buildings and contents policies if you fit smoke detectors.

Reducing your flood damage risks

Around two million homes are vulnerable to flooding. If you are one of these homeowners then you can make your house more insurable and possibly reduce the cost by taking steps which reduce the risk of flooding, or the cost of damage if it does occur.

Replacing timber floors with concrete and cover with tiles;

replace chipboard/MDF kitchen and bathroom units with plastic equivalents;

replace gypsum plaster with more water-resistant material such as lime plaster
;

move electrical points well above the likely flood level.

These things should pay for themselves by reducing the costs of damage from one flood.Your insurer will be able to advise you about the impacts of these measures on your insurance.

Household Insurance Price Comparison
The cost of both buildings and contents insurance can vary a lot between competing insurers so it pays to shop around by comparing prces and quotes.

Buildings insurance typically costs in the region of £200 plus and contents insurance around £150 plus.
One of the companies offering price comparison on insurance products in the UK is GoCompare.com
and they are well worth checking out as you will be able to compare all major insurance quotes.

UK House price slowdown continues

2008-03-06T14:05:00.000Z

According to the UK's biggest mortgage lender house prices in the UK are continuing to slow down. The Halifax publishes a monthly survey and the latest one shows that prices across the UK fell 0.3% in February. The annual rate of House Price Inflation in the UK has fallen from 4.5% to 4.2%. The mortgage lender predicts that prices will remain flat in the coming year provided that the economy and employment continued to grow.

The Halifax estimates the average UK home now costs £196,649. According to Martin Ellis, the Halifax's chief economist.

"Whilst the housing market has slowed over the past six months, it is supported by sound economic fundamentals. Interest rate cuts by the Bank of England are also helping to underpin house prices."

The past year has seen a significant decline in the UK property market from peak levels of activity with falling sales and a 39% drop in mortgage approvals.

The Halifax survey shows some different conclusions compared to reports by the Nationwide building society, one of it's main rivals. The Halifax estimates a less dramatic slowdown.

The Nationwide's survey In February showed a fourth monthly price fall in a row and said the pace of decline was speeding up with prices in the three months to February 1% lower than in the previous three.

And the conclusion from all this? there is little doubt that a very significant cooling of the Housing market has taken place and that this is continuing. There seems to be no strong evidence at the moment however that this is going to lead to a real crash in house prices. The correction that is taking place may be painful for some but others such as first time buyers may at some stage become beneficiaries.

The EU treaty should we have a referendum?

2008-03-05T14:04:00.000Z

I see that our politicians have been clashing again over the EU treaty and the issue of whether we should have a referendum. This whole debate over how we stand in the EU seems to just go on and on. I know why Gordon Brown doesn't want a referendum because I am sure he knows that he would lose one. Then there would be calls for a vote of no confidence in the government I suspect and the Labour Government would seem weakened by such a result.

It's clear to me that while most people don't necessarily want to leave the EU they certainly are not keen on further entrenching the EU's hold over our lives and further erosion of our sovereignty. I think we should have a referendum. What about you?

US Project Lifeline to support troubled Homeowners

2008-02-13T00:57:00.000Z

Project Lifeline is a new plan in the US aimed at tackling housing market troubles caused by irresponsible sub-prime lending. The Bush Administration Project Life line plan aims to help homeowners facing foreclosures and the hope will be that it stems the tide of people defaulting on mortgages.

The plan, announced by the Treasury, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development is aimed at homoweners in default of payments for 90 days or more. Hoemowners in seriouus default who are at risk of foreclosure will have the process paused for 30 days. this period aims to allow borrowers to negotiate with their lenders possible more affordable payment terms. All stages of foreclosure would be suspended during this period.

Six major banks have so far announced their involvement in Project Life Line; The Bank of America, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo. Other lenders are being encouraged to participate.

With home prices falling people in trouble with their home borrowing face the prospect that selling will not solve their problems as they will owe more than the value of their homes. The crisis has reached the point where even people with normally good credit ratings have had problems with high mortageg payments.

As in the UK many people took out mortagages which had low interest/ initial payment arrangements in the early part of the mortage with the borrower moving to normal interest/payments at a later point. Borrowers who are moving of the low payments now face difficulties with repayments and find that selling s no longer an option.

The hope in the US will be that ths plan can stem the tide of falling house prices and mortgage defaults and foreclosures.

The housing market in the UK has similar issues with large numbers of eople who are due to move off fiox rate mortages having to face higher payments and sins of weakening in the housing market. In the UK less dramatic action has been taken, and been required, so far and it is unclear yet if the market will require such significant intervention.

UK Homeowner equity 1.3 trillion

2008-02-08T13:12:00.000Z

Recent research has revealed that 62% of people own their own homes in the UK. Of these UK homeowners however only 26% own their home outright with the balance still paying for their home through mortages. The figures on UK homeownership show a resale value of these UK homes of £1.377tn.

To a degree UK homeowners will be cushioned against predicted coming house price falls because of previous house price rises.

Property price rises for UK homeoweners have added £1.96tn to homeowner's pockets which is the equivalent of £127,455 for each UK property.

The south-east has most of the UK housing wealth the majority of the UK's housing wealth - amounting to £377bn of homeowner equity.

The north-east shows the lowest value of housing stock at £58bn, which is barely 3% of the total UK figure.

These seemingly poor figures for the north east mask some hidden benefits for homeowners ion that part of the country however.In cheaper parts of the country homeowners own more equity in their properties. In the north-west and Wales for example there is the highest percentage of people owning homes outright - 30% compared with 20% in London.

The position for first time UK housebuyers is also in a state of flux.
In November, the average first-time buyer put down a 10% deposit and borrowed 3.33 times their household income.

House prices may flatten or fall this year and this could lead to negative equity for some first-timers. This is unlikely to be a major problem though and may be morethan compensated by the fact that first time buyers wil find it more affordable to get on the housing ladder. First time buyers are also likelt to be willing to ride out the period of a stagnant market and emerge unscathed when the market picks up.

The recent cut in the base rate from 5.5 to 5.25% is also welcome news and will slightly reduce the risk of a rapidly falling market developing this year.

UK House Prices Flat in january 2008

2008-02-05T15:35:00.000Z

There do seem to be signs of the economy slowing here in the UK and this having an impact on all of us UK homeowners. The latest reports show that UK house prices were flat in January. Copared to the previous quarter UK house prices showed a 1% fall. These figures come from the latest Halifax House Price Index.

These signs of a weakening market for homes in the UK are of course a mixed blessing. It certainly means that Houses may start to become more affordable for first time buyers who have found it difficult to get on the first rung of the housing ladder. So far however there are not many signs that the weakening market is having this effect.

Mortgage approvals in the last quarter of 2007 fell 35 per cent compaared to the same period in 2006. The peak rate i house price rises was 11.4 per cent rate in the three months to August.

The Halifax forecast for 2008 is that house prices will stay flat and they are not predicting a slump.

The UK recently had its 62nd successive quarter of growth in the fourth quarter of 2007. This is the longest period of unbroken growth on record so its far too early for any real doom and gloom

Egg on customers faces

2008-02-02T12:55:00.000Z

Lots of people have got used to living on credit in recent years, encouraged partly by relatively low interest rates. It's been easy to think "Oh I'll have that today and pay for it tommorrow". Things are changing though, triggered in part by the sub-prime problems in the US. The result has been problems with Banks reporting major losses and in the case of Northern Rock the near collapse of the bank.

There has been a lot of talk about a "Credit Crunch" but apart from the Northern Rock problems the crisis hasnt hit your average consumer.

There was news at the end of this week though that the online bank Egg has written to 161,000 of its credit card customers giving them 35 days notice that their credit card accounts will be closed. If any of these people have been juggling their money and relying on heir Egg credit cards to do this then this is going to be a severe blow.

Egg seems to have done this following a review of the risk on these accounts. If this is the case then it may not be easy for these people to get other credit card aprovals to replace the loss of their Egg credit cards.

I wonder what further ripples of this crisis we will see in the coming months. My guess is that we are going to see a lot more people having credit and debt problems before this is all over. The debt consolidation industry may well be the only one to benefit out of all this.

Getting paid to surf the internet

2008-01-30T11:50:00.000Z

We all get tempted to spend money on the internet dont we? I have bought all sorts of things from clothes to e-books. My husband has a thing for gadgets ( His latest is a micro-helicopter).
Its nice though to get some money back from the internet for a change.

I recently signed up with ClixSense where I get paid money to look at web pages - yes its as easy as that! I signed up as a free account first but then decided to fork out the 10$ as a premium member which gave me more chances to earn.

ClixSense recently have offered the opportunity of some really substantial earnings for those signing up for Premium accounts and promoting the ClixSense service as an affiliate.

Here's the lowdown on the Clixsense Deal for Clixsense Premium members.

Once you sign as a Premium member when anyone you refer upgrades to a Premium membership, you get paid $2 for that members upgrade. When that Premium member refers a new member who then upgrades to premium you are then also paid a $1 override commission. You just got paid for doing nothing! Yes you heard right.

It gets better though! This arrangement continues not for one or two levels but FIVE LEVELS DEEP!

If for example you refer five new members to ClixSense.com and ONLY three upgrade to a Premium account.

First at your own level you are guaranteed payment for each advertisement you click on and view for just 30 seconds. ( I am now up to 25$ through this arrangement )

Level one - You refer 5 new free members = 50 cents. Now 3 of them upgrade which earns you another $6.00. Total so far is $6.50 plus your paid to click ads.

Level two - Each of your referrals refer 5 free members of which three each upgrade to Premium accounts. Your total now is $15.50!! ($6.50 for level one, and $9 for level two.)

Level three - These members perform same as the above levels and only refer an easy 3 upgrades each. Now your total earnings is $42.50!! ($27 for level three, and $15.50 for levels above.)

Level four - These members perform same as the above levels and only refer an easy 3 upgrades each. Now your total earnings is $123.50!! ($81 for level four, and $42.50 for levels above.)

Level five - These members perform same as the above levels and only refer an easy 3 upgrades each. Now your total earnings is $366.50!! ($243.00 for level five, and $123.50 for levels above.)

Imagine what happens if you refer more than three members or even just three members per month! You get paid again when your referral renews their annual Premium membership!

Think about it, the old affiliate program paid a mere $15 when you had three upgrades. The new and improved program pays you up to $366.50 for those same referrals!!

Whats really interesting is that at every level there is a really strong incentive for everyone to go out and get new referrals. Obviously CLixSense are not likely to keep this particular offer open for long so I am real glad I am already a premium member. If you want my advice - join up - now!!

If you join up using my link below then I get a start through the five levels and you might just feel that its a nice thank you for having put you on to this one! So please use my link and then get promoting your affiliate Cixsense program !!!

Preventing identity theft

2008-01-20T18:34:00.000Z

I learned recently that up to one in ten of the population may have been a victim of identity theft. Identity Theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of recent times. Identity Theft involves the criminal using various ways to steal your identity. They then pass themselves off as you and commit fraud and theft in your name. Worst of all is that you are left dealing with the aftermath..
Identity Theft can result in your credit rating being ruined and this can take years to fix. Its much better to prevent thieves being able to steal your identity than it is dealing with the problem afterwards. Here are some key ways to prevent your identity being stolen. I have also linked to some resources which give more extensive information.

1: Old documents such as bills, bank statements, and receipts are a gold mine to the Identity thief. Keep your documents safely stored or completely destroy them if they are not needed. Don't carelessly throw them away, as the first steps in stealing an identity may involve the thief searching for such documents in the rubbish you throw away. So always Shred or burn unwanted papers.

2: Keep your personal documents out of the sight of visitors to your home !

3: If you change address always make sure that you inform your bank, utility companies, and everyone else who sends you mail. Do this in plenty of time so that your post is properly redirected. Check back to make sure that post is not still being delivered to your old address. Documents wrongly sent to a previous address are a favourite target for the Identity Thief.

4: When you stop using a credit card or bank account properly close the account. Don't think that it's enough just to let it go dormant. If you just let it go dormant you might find that a fraudster finds a way to resurrect the account and this might not then be noticed until the damage is serious.

5: Make sure you know where your credit, debit and ATM cards are at all times. Take no chances with these as they are a key way to access your identity. Always tell the issuing banks immediately if you lose them or they're stolen.

6: Never ever write down your PIN numbers and passwords and especially not on scraps of paper that you keep in your purse or wallet together with your cards. This is asking for trouble.

7: Watch out for phishing. Banks just don't ask for personal details via email, and they won't ask you for passwords to your account. If in any doubt at all when you get such an email ( and you should be) , call your bank to make sure the request is genuine.

8: make sure that you use up to date anti-virus software and firewall on your computer, especially if you use online banking of any kind. This is very important if you do online banking.

9: Check your bank account and credit card statements carefully. If there is anything you cant explain then query it with your bank.

10: It also makes sense to monitor your credit reports to see if anything appears that seems odd. Look for applications for credit cards that you didn't make, or missed payments on finance that you haven't taken out. Services are available online for this and they can automatically inform you when something changes.

If you want to know more then you might want to check out these Identity Theft related resources
Privacy Crisis - how to protect your privacy and guard against Identity Theft
Also check out
Identity Theft protection - 31 ways Identity Theft is committed and how to protect yourself

Run your Car on Water

2007-12-17T19:03:00.000Z

Did you know that you can run your car on water?
Well you can - technically - because water is actually a reservoir of Hydrogen - the fuel of the future for transport. It as little known fact that its possible to convert cars RIGHT NOW to run on both petrol and water - using the petrol to convert the water into a useable fuel. If you are interested in significantly improving your fuel economy and fascinated by the prospect of running your car on water then you might want to check out Ozzie Freedom's site which tells you all about >how to convert your car to run on water!

The approach uses the electrical energy generated by the car to split the water using hydrolosis into Brown's gas. ( See Wikepedia entry for Brown's gas also know as oxyhydrogenand look under the applications section which confirms it's use as a fuel enhancement and the claims made on Ozzie Freedom's site)

Ozzie Freedom seems to have developed a compact electrolysis unit capable of feeding the Brown's gas which is produced into the combustion chamber. This could be very interesting and may be just the solution people need in a time of rising fuel prices.

Sunstarters are us!

2007-10-07T12:51:00.000+01:00

Well its that time of the year again when thoughts in this family turn to holidays in the sun and we turn into sunstarters beginning our search for holiday deals. Havnt quite decided where we want to go next year but we certainly want somewhere sunny thats for sure! So I will be beggining my online search soon. We seem to be sunstarters earlier and earlier each year now!

I love this one

2007-10-03T23:26:00.000+01:00

I love trying to find new ways to earn money because being a homeowner is an expensive business and I have to pay the bills. Clixsense is never going to pay my mortgage but it does let me earn some cash from viewing and clicking adverts. I tend to use it when I have a spare five minutes or so online and I have earned 25 dollars with them at the moment. best of all it doesnt seem like hard work because a lot of the ads are very interesting anyway.

My Reiki progress

2007-09-16T16:57:00.000+01:00

I mentioned a few months ago that I has signed up for an online reiki course. Well I have been studying and practicing quite hard and I am really enjoying it. I have tried it out with everyone who will let me and I seem to be getting really good results. So good in fact that I now have four regular clients for my reiki and I also get people approaching me for occassional reiki treatments.

I really can't recommend the Reiki Master Home Study Course that I signed up for strongly enough.
Reiki Master Home Study Course

Northern Rock Crisis

2007-09-16T16:47:00.000+01:00

I am in two minds about how customers have reacted to the Northern Rock being given credit by the Bank Of England.
On the one hand you can see that your average customer would realise that other customers might panic and take their funds out. They would then realise that if enough customers do this then the bank starts to have real problems. So it may well be the rational course of action in this circumstances to withdraw your funds as soon as possible if you foresee a run on a bank like that.

On the other hand a run on a bank only starts because people react in this way. If people reacted rationally they would understand that their money is at no risk and that if they all act calmly then the crisis will pass very quickly.

But - we know that not everyone is rational. We know that some people will panic and once they do then the logic of the situation seems to compel others to follow suit.

A strange situation then - one where to do the irrational thing seems to be the rational course of action and the rational course of action may not be the rational thing to do. Banking is essentially built on sentiment and trust. Once this is lost then the rational course of action for the system as a whole is not necessarily the same as the rational course of action for the individual depositor.

Cystitis

2007-08-25T13:51:00.000+01:00

Cystitis Pain?

Anybody who has ever had cystitis knows that horrible feeling that gets hold of you down low and cramps you up in pain. And it always happens at the most inconvenient times. It can be very embarrassing. It can ruin your life, not to mention your sex life. It can be real agony.
And worst of all, the antibiotics soon stop working, and you end up with repeat infections or interstitial cystitis.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that there is a 100% natural extract of Sweet Forest Timbers that works fast to bring sweet relief to cystitis sufferers. It is called Waterfall D-Mannose, and has consistently proved to work better and faster than antibiotics, (even for antibiotic-resistant infections). It starts to relieve the problem within half an hour in most cases. Within 4 to 12 hours, 90% + of people with UTIs or cystitis feel very much better.

Most people achieve a 100% cure within a day or two. And then Waterfall D-Mannose works as a preventative to stop new infections / symptoms from arising.

The Waterfall D-Mannose passes almost completely into your urine within an hour of taking it, bio-actively filling up all the mannose receptors of any E.coli present, and teasing off the E.coli that are stuck to the bladder or urinary tract. It's simple, foolproof, incredibly effective, works better than any antibiotic for E.coli, and doesn't have nasty side effects. It also coats the mannose receptors of the bladder, providing a protective effect that prevents any new E.coli from being able to stick to the bladder.

PayPal Scammers

2007-07-18T10:02:00.000+01:00

PayPal users need to be very careful about replying to any emails that appear to be from PayPal as there is at least one PayPal phishing email on the go at the moment. I nearly replied to this one but then I reminded myself to check it and when you read it you can see that it is a phishing email.

The first part of the body of the email is as follows;

"Update Your Information
It has came to our attention that your PayPal billing information are out of date. This require you to update your billing information as soon as possible.
This billing update is also a new PayPal security statement which goes according to the established norms on our terms of service (TOS) to reduce the instance of fraud on our website.

Please update your records . A failure to update your records may result on a suspension of your account."

Did you notice the poor english throughout the text?

The cheeky buggers even include the following text;

"Make sure you never provide your password to fraudulent websites.
PayPal will never ask you to enter your password in an email."

I spoke to someone who knows a bit more than me about the technical side of these things who showed me the mail header information ( I think that is what its called which showed the email coming originally from "nobody".

This email is clearly a PayPal phishing scam so if you get it or something like it don't whatever you do reply to it.

UK Mortgage rates to 6% by December

2007-06-12T16:34:00.000+01:00

Like most homeowners these days in the UK we have a fairly hefty mortgage. We have made some money on two previous house moves but this never seems to keep up with the rise in house prices - so we still find ourselves with a substantial mortgage. Now our finances are not as tight as some. There are people who are already spending a significant amount of their monthly income on financing their mortgage. we are not in that category because we remortgaged to a better deal when we moved. Nevertheless anything that pushes up our mortgage payments is not very welcome.

Well according to Mervyn king the Bank of England governor who was speaking to the Welsh CBI there is every reason to think that UK interest rates will rise to 6 per cent by the end of this year.

The bank kept rates on hold at 5.5 per cent last week. But Mervyn King has talked worrying inflationary pressures and he says these must be controlled.

He also gave a warning to those people who are on variable rate mortgages "Obvious though the point may seem, it is unwise to borrow so much that the repayments are affordable only if interest rates remain at their initial levels.”

It seems that he wants to see slower household and company spending and of course a rising interest rate would aim to achieve just that.

We are going to have another look at our mortgage and see if there might be any benefit for us in remortgaging at this point. I suspect that a lot of other people will be analysing their mortgage arrangements and thinking about whether there are any good re-mortgaging deals available.

I'll just need to keep the lights on!

2007-06-03T17:56:00.001+01:00

There was me all set to do my bit for Global warming and watch the Live Earth concerts on July 7 this summer. The Live Earth Concert organisers had been planning that everyone should shut of all their lights and power at some point during the concerts as a way of showing a message about the concerns about man made global warming. But apparently I will have to keep the lights on according to news on a Live Earth Blog

It seems that the National Grid in the UK have warned that when it comes time for evryone to switch on again after shutting things of there could be a major surge which could damage the national grid and cause problems in places like hospitals etc. So I guess the message is that we will just need to keep the lights on to deal with Global Warming!

Further to my last post - I have been practising my Reiki and I am really convinced that I am going to be able to do this. I have already had a couple of people insisting that I treat them for their chronic back pain!

I am learning Reiki at Home whoooo!

2007-05-29T12:15:00.000+01:00

I have been interested in Reiki for some time since a friend of mine went to a Reiki practitioner when she had some back trouble. It seemed to work wonders. I read up a little about it and discovered that it is used for all sorts of illness problems and it really seems to work.

Apparently a Japanese Buddhist monk called Mikao Usui discovered Reiki. He discovered that he could gain the knowledge and spiritual power to apply and attune others to what is called Reiki and that this was a healing process.

I also learned that it is quite possible to learn how to do Reiki and become a certified practitioner but then I didn't really bother following it up. Well blow me but my friend must have remembered how interested I was in it and she ordered me a course from the Internet which trains you in Reki so that you can actually use it to help other people. I have had a lot of people asking me if I can use it with them once I am further on with the course so at this rate I will need to turn the backroom into a treatment room and start charging admission!!

She got the course from the Reiki Master Home Study Course and I must say it really is very good. If anyone else is interested just Click Here!

Mortgage and Finance software suggestions

2007-05-27T17:42:00.000+01:00

John and I were talking this week about our finances and we have been wondering if it might be time to try to find some mortgage software or financial planning software that perhaps could help us to manage our finance a bit more easily. We have always tended to do our accounts using traditional pen and paper methods and more recently by trying to set up our own financial planning spreadsheet using excel.

It struck us though that there may be specific software available that we could use that would help us with money management and in particular that might help us think about possible mortgage switching advantages when we see different mortgages advertised.

We haven't had a search yet to see what is available but knowing what the Internet is like I would be surprised if there wasn't some cheap or even free financial planning software available. We might be prepared to pay a little more if the software was good and really helped us plan our money. So its time for us to do some searching and see how we get on. I am going to post again once we have done this and that will be a record of what we have found.

Maddy

Secrets of success with men! Click Here!

Car Insurance - sorted

2007-05-10T13:15:00.000+01:00

Me again - to me.
Well thats the car insurance sorted. I did end up using one of the online car insurance services after trying a couple and I managed to save 50 squidoodleys compared to what Itried last year. Its actually pretty good this online stuff ( ok I 'll need to own up to hubby who has been trying to tell me that for years!). I dont know if he has tried checking online quotes for our Home insurance so I'll need to check with him because we maybe could get a better home insurance deal that way as well. Now what am I going to spend that 50 on? He he he.

Maddy

Renewing my Car Insurance

2007-05-07T22:31:00.000+01:00

A lot of people don't seem to bother trying to find the best cheap car insurance and tend to just renew with their existing car insurance company. I have tended to do this in previous years. I had a car insurance broker and I just left it to them to contact me when my car insurance was due and they would write to me to tell me what my car insurance quote was.

I used Swinton car Insurance brokers up to this point and I must say I have been generally happy with them. So it wasn't that bad a process. The advantage of using an insurance broker this way was that I didn't need to expend much energy getting insurance quotes or wondering if I was getting the cheapest car insurance.

With hindsight though I think I may have spent more money on my car insurance than I really need to - so this time I am going to be a bit more active about it. I must say also that Swinton were also ok when I had to make a car insurance claim in the past so they got a plus for that as well. All in all they are not a bad insurance broker.

One of the good things about being on the Internet now is that I can get online insurance quotes and compare car insurance much more easily than I could have done by telephone etc.

The car insurance policy I need is pretty standard I think. I need comprehensive insurance and some level of insurance for business use of my car. Its not like I am needing Classic car insurance or performance car insurance or anything complicated or expensive like that! I am pretty standard therefore I think so online insurance firms I would think should be right up my street. I am not sure if they cater for more specialised insurance but as its not what I need right now so that's not a problem. Of course when my son starts out as a learner driver shortly I'll have to get some learner insurance but I will worry about that then.

Car Insurance Companies

Here are some of the car insurance companies that I reckon I have heard of and I maybe should research;
zurich car insurance
co op car insurance
lloyds car insurance
prudential car insurance
hastings car insurance
car insurance supermarket
egg car insurance
norwich car insurance
victoria car insurance
churchhill car insurance

I am not sure if I have the names of all of these right and if they all give online car insurance quotes. The other thing I am going to try is some online car insurance comparison sites. Cant remember the names of any just now though! I'll post again once I have checked out some. Talk to myself again soon!

Maddy